Finance chiefs from the Group of 20 countries stressed the importance of central bank independence while pledging to boost cooperation in a communique they issued on Friday after a two-day meeting in South Africa.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent did not attend the two-day meeting in the port city of Durban, continuing a string of snubs by Trump administration officials.

South Africa has downplayed the absence of US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent at a meeting of G20 finance chiefs, saying it believed the world’s biggest economy is still “committed” to the grouping as the gathering starts in Durban.